Colombia's defense minister has acknowledged his government paid bounty hunters to capture a leftist rebel leader from neighboring Venezuela.

Jorge Alberto Uribe made the announcement Wednesday, but did not disclose who the bounty hunters were or how much they were paid.

Mr. Uribe has insisted for weeks that Rodrigo Granda, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (or FARC), was arrested in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on December 14. However, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says Mr. Granda was taken from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, by Colombian intelligence agents and smuggled over the border.

Mr. Chavez says Colombia violated his country's sovereignty to make the capture. But Mr. Uribe has denied that accusation.